If you're looking for the latest stats and trends for credit unions, CUNA Mutual Group'sChief Economist, Dave Colby, and his monthly trends reports are just the ticket. Each month Dave collects pertinent credit union data, analyzes it, and compiles it into a easy-to-read report complete with graphs and charts for quick views. Dave has been producing this type of trend data for credit unions since the 1990s, which developed into quite the resource for the industry. We were lucky enough to catch Dave in between reports to get the latest news on the current state of credit unions. Lots of insightful, statistical information in this in-depth interview. You won't want to miss it. Enjoy the show!

What you will learn...
1. Tell us a bit about the report itself along with your role?
2. What is the trend report comprised of? Where does the data come from?
3. First, the credit union consolidation continues at a somewhat rapid pace, losing 247 in the last year. There are now 7,446 total CUs. How can this trend continue? (How does it compare to previous years?)
4. Now talking loan growth today is like riding turbulence in the Wright Brothers' very first airplane. We're all over the place. Despite dropping like a brick during 2008-2009, credit union lending is actually up 1.3% since March of this year. But it remains in the negative at 0.3% since this time last year -- even though member business loans were up 13%. What should we make of this topsy-turvy data?
5.  Annual growth for savings and assets was up 4%, but deposit yields are down and members are turning away from low-rate CDs. Why is this happening?
6. July/August membership experienced a boost of 383,000, which is positive. But the overall trend is down. Why? And how can we turn it around?
7. Some key ratio stats show positive improvement, such as capital-to-asset ration up 10.3%, loan-to-asset ration at 70.2%, and loan delinquencies slipped down to 1.5%. Albeit small, this is good news. What does this trend show?
8. Overall, what do you make of these numbers today -- and how can improve them?

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CUNA Mutual Group
Dave Colby's Trend Reports

It's been a big year for Members First Credit Union's Marketing/Business Development Manager, Amanda Thomas. She changed her approach to marketing, attempting new strategies she discovered outside the industry. As a result, Amanda's campaigns have garnered positive results, she has made Credit Union Times Trailblazers: 40 Below list, and now she's a finalist in the CUES Next Top Credit Union Executive competition. What's next? Well, check out our interview -- and enjoy the show!

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Members First Credit Union
Amanda Thomas CUES Next Top Executive page

Three down, two to go in this 2011 CUES Next Top Credit Union Executive interview series. In this episode we speak with Boeing Employees Credit Union's Financial Educator, Jay Hansen, about his thoughts on the competition. Jay also explains his project for the contest, along with career goals and how he can do his part to help make the industry better for the future. It was a pleasure having Jay on the show and we wish him good luck in next week's contest in Las Vegas during the CUES CEO/Executive Team Network conference. Enjoy the program!

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Boeing Employees Credit Union
Jay Hansen's CUES Next Top Credit Union Executive page

Continuing with our CUES Next Top Credit Union Executive series, we are speaking withAspire Federal Credit Union's Marketing Manager, Alexia Mavrakes, about the annual competition to discover top credit union talent. Along with her work philosophy and career plans, we also discuss how she thinks "Bank Transfer Day" will be an event that could spark credit unions coming together to build a cohesive message to the masses. One more note: I have to commend Alexia's resourcefulness, as she opted to use her iPhone for the interview when Skype wouldn't "agree" with her computer. That's thinking on you feet. Enjoy the interview! BTW: We conducted this interview via Alexis' iPhone. Quite resourceful!

Visit:
Aspire Federal Credit Union
Alexia Mavrakes' CUES Next Top Exec page

This week on CUbroadcast we are doing something a bit different. Each day we will feature a CUES Next Top Executive finalist to get to know them a bit better prior to their final competition during next week's CUES 2011 Directors Conference in Las Vegas, NV. Today, we are chatting with Servus Credit Union's Devin Selte from Canada about his take on the competition, his business philosophy, and how he believes he can make a difference in this industry. So take a few minutes and enjoy this quick interview with Devin.

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Servus Credit Union
Next Top Exec site
2CUGuys blog